1,427 Shares in The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) Bought by First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. acquired a new stake in The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,427 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $221,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group by 61.5% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 27,155 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $4,022,000 after acquiring an additional 10,341 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $201,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 104.4% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 11,967 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,772,000 after purchasing an additional 6,112 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 82.4% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 11,500 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,702,000 after purchasing an additional 5,194 shares during the period. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,046,000. Institutional investors own 86.61% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on THG shares. Janney Montgomery Scott downgraded The Hanover Insurance Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $176.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. JMP Securities lifted their target price on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $165.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $170.00 to $176.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on The Hanover Insurance Group from $161.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $174.88.

The Hanover Insurance Group Price Performance

NYSE:THG opened at $156.75 on Wednesday. The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $119.66 and a 52-week high of $166.13. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $156.66 and a 200 day moving average of $148.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.55 and a beta of 0.72.

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.05 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $1.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. The Hanover Insurance Group had a return on equity of 15.53% and a net margin of 5.92%. The Hanover Insurance Group’s revenue was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.19 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. will post 11.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Hanover Insurance Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a $0.90 dividend. This is a positive change from The Hanover Insurance Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.30%. The Hanover Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.71%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Jeffrey M. Farber sold 6,114 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.36, for a total value of $992,669.04. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 54,091 shares in the company, valued at $8,782,214.76. The trade was a 10.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 12,100 shares of company stock worth $1,951,223. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

The Hanover Insurance Group Company Profile

The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides various property and casualty insurance products and services in the United States. The company operates through four segments: Core Commercial, Specialty, Personal Lines, and Other. The Commercial Lines segment offers commercial multiple peril, commercial automobile, workers' compensation, and other commercial lines coverage.